As expected, South Africa’s Competition Commission has recommended that unconditional approval be given to the merger of Daun et Cie and Kolosus Holdings.  The decision means the deal is likely to  be approved when it goes before the Competition Tribunal later in the year.

In reaching its conclusions, the Commission noted that the merger might lead to ‘some retrenchments’.  However, it said it considered the scale of the job losses "not unreasonable" and certainly not sufficient to stand in the way of the tie-up.  Nevertheless, some of the affected trade unions had signaled that they would like to address the Competition Tribunal more fully on the point during the Tribunal hearing, the Commission said.

The Commissioners further recognised that while the resultant organisation would become the dominant player in the procurement of raw hides and the sale of automotive wet-blue, it did not consider this would unfairly disadvantage rival operators as local demand for wet blue already exceeded supply by 40%. 

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